Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Benghazi - Seventh Update

I have made a change of format. In the past I have carried along all previous updates. That got a little unwieldy. In the future I will leave past updates behind. The fifth has all of the originals should anyone care to look back. They can pick up this and all future ones from there. I do intend to update periodically to remind readers that we must get the whole story. The story the administration is hiding. I will continue posting this until we have all the answers.

Seventh Update

I was reading the comments on a news article the other day. The respondent was concerned that people would forget the Benghazi scandal. I responded to him about my blog and my intentions to periodically update until we learn the truth or have a new administration. There is new hope. We are not alone in our caring. A group called "Special Operations Speaks" has sent a letter to Congress signed by more than 700 Special Operations veterans. They are asking Congress to form a special committee to focus on Benghazi. The full article is on Fox News .com. I think we all support their efforts.

Remember Benghazi - the original article

The holidays are here and everyone is busy with their preparations. The newspaper, if they report at all, are reporting the crisis of the day. The president is heading to Hawaii in a week. Most politicians have lost interest in anything that matters. There are distractions galore. But through all this, we must remember Benghazi.The administration, every person in it, hopes that the American people will just move on and call it done. Over. Old history. We must not do that. Benghazi is a big deal. Benghazi is not just one scandal. It is four separate scandals. Every one of them deserves our close attention.The first scandal is that Ambassador Stevens called for more security and it was denied him. That is unheard of. An ambassador is the highest ranking American in any foreign country. He is the direct representative of the President. Normally when an ambassador makes a request it is granted without question. There are only two people in government with the power to deny an ambassador. That would be the Secretary of State and the President. So who made that decision and why? Was it made on political grounds? Was it made to appease someone in the Libyan government? After all this consulate had been attacked before. Weren't there enough warning flags up? Why was the Ambassador even there? Was he sent there secretly for a meeting? Why was he sent with insufficient personal security?The second scandal is the attack on the consulate itself. This was an attack on sovereign American soil. When the consulate came under fire they called out for help. None was forthcoming. The people calling for help were experienced military. They had a drone overhead monitoring the situation. The battle lasted over seven hours. Help was available. Even a single C-130A sent from Italy could have been there in an hour. Four honorable Americans lost their lives while serving their country. Why? Was this also a political decision? Do we now sacrifice our people for political reasons? Who was monitoring the feed from the drone? Who did they report to? We need answers. We deserve answers. Whatever was or was not done occurred in our name.The third scandal, of course, is the pack of lies that the administration put out to cover this debacle. The stories had not even a bit of truth to them. It was not about some movie upsetting a flash mob. Any person with more than two active brain cells knew they were lies. But for weeks after, coincidentally right through the presidential debates, the administration stuck with the story. Week after week, on the Sunday talk shows and in the news papers the media allowed this story when they must have known it was a fabrication. A man in California was jailed for his part in inciting a riot that never happened. In America? Please. That is just wrong. When did our country come to this?The fourth scandal is a little more difficult for me. I have a tendency to accept the military as straight forward and honorable under any and all pressure. As back in Caesar's day, they would fall on their sword rather than dishonor their uniform. General Petraeus initially mouthed the party line as to the cause of the attack on Benghazi. He reiterated the obvious lies that were played to protect the administration. It is my opinion, and mine alone, that he wanted to tell the truth. Again, my opinion, he was told that if he went public, his private misfeasance would be made public. Being an honorable man who made a mistake, he did the right thing and resigned. We, as American citizens, need his testimony as to what transpired throughout this whole mess.I am writing this piece on the evening of December 9, 2012. I plan to publish it tomorrow. I feel it is so important that I will republish this essay periodically as a reminder to those that read my blog that the administration has not answered our questions, until we finally are told the truth or have a new administration.

About Me

There is too much obfuscation in todays world. Outright lying is being disengenuous if it is done by a politician. Everything is about party and power rather than country. Freedom suffers under the weight of unelected bureaucrats. The dollar loses value and politicians continue to spend without limits. When we need an honest ten year and twenty year plan our congress can't devise a two year plan.
Being retired, I read a lot of news online and watch what is being said on the TV. I would like to try to cut through some of the fog and blather and get a little closer to reality. One can but hope.